Action toy



April 29, 1- H. G. FISHER 2,240,439

ACTION TOY Filed NOV. 10, 1939 lNVENTOR ERMA/V 6 HSHER ATTO NEYS Patented Apr. 29, 194i Face-s:

' A oiuoN ToY.

Herman G. Fisher, EastAurora', N; Y., assignor to Fisher-Price Toys, Inc., East Aurora, N. Y.

' Assessments 10, 1939, Serial No. 303,806

8 Claims.

This invention relates to mechanical toys and more particularly'to that type in whi'ch animation is obtained by propulsion of the toy.

One of the objects of the invention is to-provide an improved toy in which action of certain elements thereof is obtained by a simplified mechanism of novel form and in a manner closely simulating the natural movements and sounds of areal life counter-part. v 1

Other objects and'advantages Will'appear in the specification and the claims of the illustrated 1 embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing: i 1 Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the toy; Fig. 2 is a bottom plan View, and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the sound making element thereof. a

In practicing the invention a base or frame ill of yieldable material such as wood or the like is provided with depending side flanges l2 in which bearings l3 are secured for supporting a transverse axle 14 having wheels [5 rigidly mounted thereon. For illustrative purposes a wagon body i6 is shown mounted on the base In.

At the forward end of the base Ii! isa projecting portion'll upon which ismounted a fanciful figure l8- having movable elements I9, shown in this embodiment of the invention as being a pair of opposed limbs of the figure I8, pivotally mounted'thereoniby means. of pins'ZD. These limbs l9 are spaced away from the figure l8 by spacer elements 21 mounted upon the pins 20; A depending portion 23 of the-figure I8 supports a second transverse axle 24 having wheels 25 rigidly mounted thereon.

A link 26 formed of bent wire is provided'for actuatingeach of the movable elements Land the links 26 each have lower bent finger portions 21 pivotally connected with the corresponding wheel 25 by beinginserted in an opening 28in the wheel, the opening 28. being: of such dimension as to receive the finger 21 thereinin slipfitting relation and being countersunk as at'z29'to clear the laterally bent end portion of the finger which preventsdisplacementof the link 26 from the wheel 25 subsequent to assembly (Fig. 2). As illustrated, the openings 28 in the wheels 25 are eccentrically disposed, with respect to the axle 24 and in diametrically opposed relation with respect to one another. The links ziiyare intermediately bent as at 30 and have outwardly bent end fingers 3! which are pivotallymounted in the limbs H! by slip-fitting insertion into ap-; propriate openings therein at points whichare spaced from the pins 20 and so-locatedthat lines projected between corresponding points 21 and 3| are at all timesroffset from theline of. the

corresponding pin 20; The bent portion 30 pres vents displacementof the fingers 3| from the limbs l9. The axle I 4 has oppositelyldisplacedcrank like portions 32 and 33 for alternately contacting fingers 34 and 35 of a sound producingresilient striker 36 which is mounted on the underside of the base ID by means of staples 31. The fixed end of the striker 36; has an upwardly bent portion 38 (Fig. 3) which bites into the base In when the staples 3l'are driven into place,:thus preventing accidental displacement thereof. The free end of the striker 36 has an upwardly bent portion 39 and a downwardly bent end portion forming a ridge 40' which is normally held against thebase H) by the novel shape and the inherent springiness of the striker. In operation. as the-toy'is,propelledalong a supporting surface, the forwardwheels 25 rotate and cause the ,links; 26 to reciprocate :and to swing the limbs" l9 forwardly and backwardly in a manner simulating theaction of a walking biped. Because of the novel relative arrange-. ment of the wheels -25,- the limbs I9; and --the links 26, the limbs 19 substantially conceal the wheels 25 on the forward swing thereof; -At the same time the rear wheels 15 and the axle -l4 are rotating as a unit, causing the crank portions 32 and 33 to alternately contact the fingers 34 and' 35 of the striker 36, thusalternately drawing the ridge 4ll-away from contact with the base Ill and then releasing it and allowing the striker to snap back against the base ill with a sharp clear sound such as that; made by; for this illustration, a person walking: a

In the illustrated form the wheels l5, and25 are shown as being of equal diameter. Thus, each revolution of the wheels produces twoisteps and two sounds; one sound tov each step; and there is obtained an effect that the figure'is walking through use of a minimum number "of simple and rugged parts.

Although in the specification there are illustrated a pair of staples 31 for holding the striker stood that if the base It is made of pressureresisting material such as steel or the like, a detent may be preformed in the base to receive the bent end portion 38 of the striker, within the concept of the invention. Thus, the striker is prevented from being forced away from operative contact with the crank portions 32 and 33 by the forces imposed thereon through the crank action. I 7

It will be understood that the relative disposition of the pivot points 2i! and 3| may be varied to provide any desired amplitude of reciprocatory movement of the limbs 19, and that' likewise the distance between the pivot points 21 and the axis of rotation of the Wheels 25 may be varied to provide any desired degree of limb movement, but that in any case the proportioning of the limbs I9 and the wheels 25 and the vertically offset relation of the axes of pivoting 20 and 24 will be so arranged that as the limbs 192 are 'oscillated they substantially mask the wheels 25 inside view elevation.

It will also be understood that although the invention is illustrated herein as being employed in connection with a four wheeled toy, it may be adapted with equal facility to any other desired form of toy device wherein at least one traction wheel is available to provide the motive power means for causing oscillation of a. plurality of movable limb-simulating members; and also, that the motive power source may be in the form of any kind of .wheel'or some equivalent device in. lieu-of the traction wheel 25. Thus, it will be understood that the invention is particularly adapted to the provision of a life-like action toy wherein two onmore limb-simulating elements are moved with a repeating action in combination with production ofsynchronized sound effects, such as in walking or running toys as illustrated herein, or as. in a toy simulating the arm movements of a boxer, or the like.

Although only one form of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the principles taught herein may be applied in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims: I

I claim: I

1. An action toy comprising a body portion, a

pair of limb-simulating elements movably mounted. upon said body, means operatively connected with said limb-simulating elements for motivating the latter in opposite manner, sound producingmeans mounted upon said body, and

means responsive to actuation of said toy and operatively associated with said sound producing means for producing multiple sound eifects in timed relationship with regard to the respective movements of said limb-simulating elements, said sound producing means including a resilient striker, and said toy actuation responsive means including a rotating element having integral therewith diametrically opposed abutment pornected with said-limb-simulating-elements for motivating the latter in opposite manner, sound producing means mounted upon said body, and means responsive to actuation of said toy and operatively associated with said sound producing means for producing multiple sound effects in timed relationship with regard to the respective movements of said limb-simulating elements, said sound producing means including a resilient striker having a pair of opposed extending finger portions at the free end thereof, and said toy actuation responsive means including a rotating element having diametrically opposed abutment portions adapted to alternately successively contact said extending finger portions andthereby to deflect from its normal position and r'eleasethe free end of said resilient striker whereby multiple sound effects are produced in response to a single rotation of said striker actuating means.

3. A sound producing device comprising a base and a resilient striker mounted in cantilever fashion upon said base, the free end portion of said striker having a plurality of separately extending finger portions, and means for successively contacting said extending finger portions and deflecting the free end of said striker from its normal position and then releasing it.

4. A sound producing device vcomprising a base of yieldable material and a resilient striker mounted in cantilever fashion'upon said base, the free end portion of said striker having a plurality of separately extending finger portions, and means for successively contacting said extending finger portions and deflecting the free end of said striker from its normal position and then releasing it, the anchored end portion of said striker being held in contiguous relation against said base by a connection deviceand having a laterally bent portion pressed into the yieldable material of said lbase by means of said connection device.

5. A sound producing device comprising a base and a resilient striker having an intermediately disposed portion offset inthe direction of said base and a plurality of separately extending finger portions, and means for successively contacting said extending finger portions and deflecting the free'end of said striker from its normal position and then releasing it.

6. A sound producing device comprising a base of yieldable material. having a substantially plane surface and a striker therefor in the form of a resilient arm beingmounted on said surface in cantilever fashion at one end of said striker arm by means of a connection .device adapted to maintain said arm end in contiguous relation with said base, said armend having alaterally bent portion pressed into said base yieldable material and held therein by said connection means and means exertinga twisting force upon the other end of said arm and deflecting it away from said base. v

7. A sound producing device comprising a base having-a detent therein and a striker in the form of a resilient armanchored in contiguous relation with said base at one of its ends by means of a connectiondevice, said .striker arm having a laterally bent end portion inserted in said detent, the other end of said arm having a pair of projections, a shaft having a pair of angularly disposed cranks for engagement with said projections and means for rotating said shaft to intermittently actuate said arm. 7

8.In'an action toy, a body, a wheel rotatably mounted" upon said body and incontiguous rela-' tion therewith, a link operatively associated with said Wheel and having one of its ends pivotally connected thereto by means of slip-fitted engagement of a laterally bent end portion of said link in an opening formed in said wheel at a position ofiset from the axis of rotation thereof, said opening in said Wheel being enlarged in the region adjacent said body portion, and said 1aterally bent finger portion being reversely bent at its outer end in the region of said opening; enlargement.

HERMAN G. FISHER. 

